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Tuesday, 21 February 2017

EU MONEY FLOWS DESPITE RIGHTS RECORD

Despite a
campaign at the European Parliament to force Swaziland to improve its human
rights record, the European Union (EU) has continued to spend tens ofmillions of euros of taxpayers’
money in the kingdom ruled by the autocratic King Mswati III.

Figures
just released show the EU disbursed E365 million last year (26 million euro;
US$22 million.

Bertram
Stewart, Swazi Ministry of Economic Planning and Development Principal
Secretary, said, ‘I wish to express our sincere gratitude to the EU for the
financial and moral support they provided to the country,’

He was
speaking at the annual Swazi Government and EU project planning meeting to
review the progress of EU-funded projects.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect
owned by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last
absolute monarch, reported, ‘EU Ambassador Nicola Bellomo said they were really
proud of the achievements and were looking at increasing and improving their
level of cooperation in partnership with all the relevant stakeholders.’

There has
been growing concerns in Europe about Swaziland’s record on human rights, where
any political dissent can be outlawed by the Suppression of Terrorism Act. In recent years, journalists
have been jailed for criticising the kingdom’s judges.

In October 2016, more than four
in ten Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) did not support Swaziland’s
inclusion in a trade partnership deal.

Ambassador Bellomo said at
the time, many MEPs wanted Swaziland excluded because of human rights
violations.

In a vote, 417 MEPs
endorsed Swaziland’s inclusion in the Southern African Development Community
(SADC)-EU Economic Partnership Agreement.However, 216 MEPs voted against and a
further 118 abstained from voting.

Bellomo told the Sunday Observer on 9 October 2016 that those who wanted the
kingdom to be excluded cited human rights violations. He gave the
jailing of the Nation magazine editor Bheki Makhubu and
human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko on sedition charges as examples.

The Observer reported the EU ambassador said this should be ‘a wake-up
call’ to Swaziland.

The new trade agreement
opened SADC goods to the European markets duty free.

In May 2015, the European Parliament voted
for the release of all political prisoners in Swaziland and called for the
kingdom to be monitored for its human rights record.

A statement
issued by the European Parliament said, ‘Parliament
considers the imprisonment of political activists and the banning of trade
unions to be in clear contravention of commitments made by Swaziland under the
Cotonou Agreement to respect democracy, the rule of law and human rights, and
also under the sustainable development chapter of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement, for which
Parliament’s support will depend on respect for the commitments made.’

The resolution was passed by
579 votes to six, with 58 abstentions.

In January 2015, the United States withdrew
Swaziland’s trading benefits under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA)
after the kingdom refused to accept democratic change.